Genesis 41

1¶ And it came to pass at the end of two full years, that Pharaoh dreamed: and, behold, he stood by the river.

2And, behold, there came up out of the river seven beautiful cows and very fat, and they fed in a meadow.

3And, behold, seven other cows came up after them out of the river, ugly and lean-fleshed, and stood by the other cows upon the brink of the river.

4And the ugly and lean-fleshed cows ate up the seven beautiful and fat cows. So Pharaoh awoke.

5And he slept and dreamed the second time; and, behold, seven heads of wheat came up upon one stalk, full and beautiful.

6And, behold, seven thin heads, blasted with the east wind sprung up after them.

7And the seven thin heads devoured the seven full and beautiful heads. And Pharaoh awoke, and, behold, it was a dream.

8And it came to pass in the morning that his spirit was troubled, and he sent and called for all the magicians of Egypt and all the wise men thereof; and Pharaoh told them his dreams, but there was no one that could interpret them unto Pharaoh.

9¶ Then the chief butler spoke unto Pharaoh, saying, I remember my sins today;

10Pharaoh was angry with his slaves and put me in the prison of the captain of the guard’s house, both me and the prince of the bakers.

11And we both dreamed a dream in one night; we dreamed each man according to the interpretation of his dream.

12And there was there with us a young man, a Hebrew, slave to the captain of the guard; and we told him, and he interpreted our dreams to us; he interpreted to each man according to his dream.

13And it came to pass, as he interpreted to us, so it was; me he restored unto my office, and him he hanged.

14Then Pharaoh sent and called Joseph, and they brought him hastily out of the dungeon; and they cut his hair and changed his clothes, and he came in unto Pharaoh.

15And Pharaoh said unto Joseph, I have dreamed a dream, and there is no one that can interpret it; but I have heard say of thee that thou canst hear dreams to interpret them.

16And Joseph answered Pharaoh, saying, It is not in me; God shall give Pharaoh an answer of peace.

17¶ And Pharaoh said unto Joseph, In my dream, behold, I stood upon the bank of the river;

18and, behold, there came up out of the river seven cows, fat-fleshed and beautiful in appearance; and they fed in a meadow.

19And, behold, seven other cows came up after them, lean and very ugly in appearance, and thin, such as I have never seen in all the land of Egypt for ugliness.

20And the lean and ugly cows ate up the first seven fat cows;

21and when they had eaten them up, it could not be known that they had eaten them; but they were still ugly, as at the beginning. So I awoke.

22And I also saw in my dream, and, behold, seven heads came up in one stalk, full and beautiful;

23and, behold, seven heads, withered, thin, and blasted with the east wind, sprung up after them.

24And the thin heads devoured the seven good heads; and I told this unto the magicians, but there was no one that could declare it to me.

25Then Joseph said unto Pharaoh, The dream of Pharaoh is one: God has showed Pharaoh what he is about to do.

26The seven beautiful cows are seven years; and the seven good heads are seven years; the dream is one and the same.

27Also the seven thin and ugly cows that came up after them are seven years; and the seven empty heads blasted with the east wind shall be seven years of famine.

28This is the thing which I have spoken unto Pharaoh. What God is about to do he has shown unto Pharaoh.

29Behold, seven years of great plenty are coming throughout all the land of Egypt.

30And there shall arise after them seven years of famine; and all the plenty shall be forgotten in the land of Egypt; and the famine shall consume the land;

31and the plenty shall not be known in the land by reason of that famine following; for it shall be very grievous.

32And that the dream came unto Pharaoh twice, it is because the thing is established by God, and God will shortly bring it to pass.

33¶ Now therefore let Pharaoh find a discreet and wise man and set him over the land of Egypt.

34Let Pharaoh do this, and let him appoint officers over the land and take up the fifth part of the land of Egypt in the seven plenteous years.

35And let them gather all the food of those good years that come and lay up wheat under the hand of Pharaoh to feed the cities, and let them store it up.

36And let that food be stored for the land against the seven years of famine, which shall be in the land of Egypt; and the land shall not perish through the famine.

37And the word was good in the eyes of Pharaoh and in the eyes of all his slaves.

38And Pharaoh said unto his slaves, Can we find such a one as this is, a man in whom the Spirit of God is?

39And Pharaoh said unto Joseph, Forasmuch as God has showed thee all this, there is none so discreet and wise as thou art.

40Thou shalt be over my house, and according unto thy word shall all my people be ruled; only in the throne will I be greater than thou.

41And Pharaoh said unto Joseph, See, I have set thee over all the land of Egypt.

42Then Pharaoh took off his ring from his hand and put it upon Joseph’s hand and arrayed him in vestures of fine linen and put a gold chain about his neck;

43and he made him to ride in his second chariot; and they cried before him, Abrech Tender Father-honour this one as a precious father; and he made him ruler over all the land of Egypt.

44And Pharaoh said unto Joseph, I am Pharaoh, and without thee no one shall lift up his hand or foot in all the land of Egypt.

45And Pharaoh called Joseph’s name Zaphnathpaaneah, and he gave him to wife Asenath the daughter of Potipherah priest of On. And Joseph went out over all the land of Egypt.

46¶ And Joseph was thirty years old when he stood before Pharaoh king of Egypt. And Joseph went out from the presence of Pharaoh and went throughout all the land of Egypt.

47And in the seven plenteous years the earth brought forth by handfuls.

48And he gathered up all the food of the seven years, which were in the land of Egypt and laid up the food in the cities, placing in each city the food of the field, which was round about.

49And Joseph gathered wheat as the sand of the sea, very much, until he left off numbering; for it was without number.

50And unto Joseph were born two sons before the years of famine came, which Asenath, the daughter of Potipherah, prince of On, bore unto him.

51And Joseph called the name of the firstborn Manasseh; For God, said he, has made me forget all my toil and all my father’s house.

52And the name of the second he called Ephraim, For God, said he, has caused me to be fruitful in the land of my affliction.

53And the seven years of the abundance that was in the land of Egypt were ended.

54And the seven years of famine began to come, according as Joseph had said; and the famine was in all lands, but in all the land of Egypt there was bread.

55And when all the land of Egypt was famished, the people cried to Pharaoh for bread. And Pharaoh said unto all the Egyptians, Go unto Joseph; what he saith to you, do.

56And the famine was over all the face of the earth. Then Joseph opened all the storehouses and sold unto the Egyptians; for the famine waxed sore in the land of Egypt.

57And all the earth came into Egypt to buy from Joseph because the famine was so sore in all lands.

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Genesis 41

Joseph Interprets the King's Dreams

1Two years later the king#41.1 the king: See the note at 12.15. of Egypt dreamed he was standing beside the Nile River. 2Suddenly, seven fat, healthy cows came up from the river and started eating grass along the bank. 3Then seven ugly, skinny cows came up out of the river and 4ate the fat, healthy cows. When this happened, the king woke up.

5The king went back to sleep and had another dream. This time seven full heads of grain were growing on a single stalk. 6Later, seven other heads of grain appeared, but they were thin and scorched by a wind from the desert. 7The thin heads of grain swallowed the seven full heads. Again the king woke up, and it had only been a dream.

8 # Dn 2.2. The next morning the king was upset. So he called in his magicians and wise men and told them what he had dreamed. None of them could tell him what the dreams meant.

9The king's personal servant said:

Now I remember what I was supposed to do. 10When you were angry with me and your chief cook, you threw us both in jail in the house of the captain of the guard. 11One night we both had dreams, and each dream had a different meaning. 12A young Hebrew, who was a servant of the captain of the guard, was there with us at the time. When we told him our dreams, he explained what each of them meant, 13and everything happened just as he said it would. I got my job back, and the cook was put to death.

14The king sent for Joseph, who was quickly brought out of jail. He shaved, changed his clothes, and went to the king.

15The king said to him, “I had a dream, yet no one can explain what it means. I am told that you can interpret dreams.”

16“Your Majesty,” Joseph answered, “I can't do it myself, but God can give a good meaning to your dreams.”

17The king told Joseph:

I dreamed I was standing on the bank of the Nile River. 18I saw seven fat, healthy cows come up out of the river, and they began feeding on the grass. 19Next, seven skinny, bony cows came up out of the river. I have never seen such terrible looking cows anywhere in Egypt. 20The skinny cows ate the fat ones. 21But you couldn't tell it, because these skinny cows were just as skinny as they were before. At once, I woke up.

22I also dreamed that I saw seven heads of grain growing on one stalk. The heads were full and ripe. 23Then seven other heads of grain came up. They were thin and scorched by a wind from the desert. 24These heads of grain swallowed the full ones. I told my dreams to the magicians, but none of them could tell me the meaning of the dreams.

25Joseph replied:

Your Majesty, both of your dreams mean the same thing, and in them God has shown what he is going to do. 26The seven good cows stand for seven years, and so do the seven good heads of grain. 27The seven skinny, ugly cows that came up later also stand for seven years, as do the seven bad heads of grain that were scorched by the desert wind. The dreams mean there will be seven years when there won't be enough grain.

28It is just as I said—God has shown what he intends to do. 29For seven years Egypt will have more than enough grain, 30but that will be followed by seven years when there won't be enough. The good years of plenty will be forgotten, and everywhere in Egypt people will be starving. 31The famine will be so bad that no one will remember that once there had been plenty. 32God has given you two dreams to let you know that he has definitely decided to do this and that he will do it soon.

33Your Majesty, you should find someone who is wise and will know what to do, so that you can put him in charge of all Egypt. 34Then appoint some other officials to collect one fifth of every crop harvested in Egypt during the seven years when there is plenty. 35Give them the power to collect the grain during those good years and to store it in your cities. 36It can be stored until it is needed during the seven years when there won't be enough grain in Egypt. This will keep the country from being destroyed because of the lack of food.

Joseph Is Made Governor over Egypt

37The king#41.37 The king: See the note at 12.15. and his officials liked this plan. 38So the king said to them, “Who could possibly handle this better than Joseph? After all, the Spirit of God is with him.”

39The king told Joseph, “God is the one who has shown you these things. No one else is as wise as you are or knows as much as you do. 40#Ac 7.10. I'm putting you in charge of my palace, and everybody will have to obey you. No one will be over you except me. 41You are now governor of all Egypt!”

42 # Dn 5.29. Then the king took off his royal ring and put it on Joseph's finger. He gave him fine clothes to wear and placed a gold chain around his neck. 43He also let him ride in the chariot next to his own, and people shouted, “Make way for Joseph!” So Joseph was governor of Egypt.

44The king told Joseph, “Although I'm king, no one in Egypt is to do anything without your permission.” 45He gave Joseph the Egyptian name Zaphenath Paneah. And he let him marry Asenath, the daughter of Potiphera, a priest in the city of Heliopolis.#41.45 Heliopolis: The Hebrew text has “On,” which is better known by its Greek name “Heliopolis.” Joseph traveled all over#41.45 traveled all over: Or “extended his authority over all.” Egypt.

46Joseph was 30 when the king made him governor, and he went everywhere for the king. 47For seven years there were big harvests of grain. 48Joseph collected and stored up the extra grain in the cities of Egypt near the fields where it was harvested. 49In fact, there was so much grain that they stopped keeping record, because it was like counting the grains of sand along the beach.

50Joseph and his wife had two sons before the famine began. 51Their first son was named Manasseh, which means, “God has let me forget all my troubles and my family back home.” 52His second son was named Ephraim, which means “God has made me a success#41.52 God has made me a success: Or “God has given me children.” in the land where I suffered.”#41.52 Ephraim … suffered: In Hebrew “Ephraim” actually means either “fertile land” or “pastureland.”

53Egypt's seven years of plenty came to an end, 54#Ac 7.11. and the seven years of famine began, just as Joseph had said. There was not enough food in other countries, but all over Egypt there was plenty. 55#Jn 2.5. When the famine finally struck Egypt, the people asked the king for food, but he said, “Go to Joseph and do what he tells you to do.”

56The famine became bad everywhere in Egypt, so Joseph opened the storehouses and sold the grain to the Egyptians. 57People from all over the world came to Egypt to buy grain, because the famine was so severe in their countries.

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